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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27167590">Chicks Dig the Rugged Look</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/actually18pigeons/pseuds/actually18pigeons'>actually18pigeons</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxious Evan "Buck" Buckley, Broken Bones, Broken nose, Caring Evan "Buck" Buckley, Hurt Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Hurt/Comfort, Minor Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley, no.12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:01:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,917</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27167590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/actually18pigeons/pseuds/actually18pigeons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Whumptober Prompt - Broken Bones. Carla calls Buck to check up on Eddie after he comes home from a fight. Hurt/comfort ensues, ft. aligning a broken nose.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020 [11]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>79</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Chicks Dig the Rugged Look</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>First work in Hurt!Eddie, usually I go for Buck, but hey this is the first ship that I feel inclined to hurt both of them. Whoops. This takes place probably like post lawsuit but before Eddie stops fighting, and Buddie isn't on great terms but still okay. Enjoy. Also, I watched a youtube video on how to align a broken nose, so who knows if this is at all accurate.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He won the fight and that’s what mattered, but as he returned to the locker room the adrenaline began to wear off, leaving him covered in a blanket of pain. His face hurt. He knew he had caught an elbow early on, but he didn’t think much of it, quickly wiping away the blood that began to trickle onto his lips as the new round began. </p><p>But as he entered the locker room bathroom he swore as he took in the mess that was his face in the mirror. His nose was bruised and swollen, eyes beginning to darken. Instantly his mind was spinning for an excuse, any explanation other than the truth. This was definitely going to be harder to hide from the 118. He hastily wiped the blood off his face with a handful of rough paper towels before pulling up his hood. He could properly fix it when he got home. </p><p>Fifteen minutes later he was pulling into his driveway, the pain hadn’t lessened much, though it had evolved into a painful throbbing throughout his body. He had texted Carla so she knew he was almost home, and in the darkness of the entryway he flipped off the light of the living room, telling her some throwaway excuse about having a long night, and heading to his bedroom, hearing her lock the front door as she left knowing better than to question his "long nights". </p><p>He peaked into Christopher’s room as he walked down the hall, confirming that he was snoring quietly under his blankets. Then he headed to the bathroom, groaning quietly as he lowered himself to sit on the side of the bathtub, slowly unzipping his sweatshirt to reveal the damage underneath.</p><p> </p><p>Buck’s phone rang as he was packing up his gear for the next morning’s call. It was Carla. </p><p>“Hey, what’s up? Is everything alright?”</p><p>“I’m not sure Buck. Eddie just got home and I’m heading out, but something seemed off about him tonight... actually the past few nights. I’m worried about him, but I don’t think it’d be well-received if I started poking around. Could you talk to him?”</p><p>“Uh yeah, sure. Should I head over tonight?”</p><p>“I think that’d be a good idea.”</p><p>“Okay, I’m on my way.” Buck pulled on a sweatshirt and grabbed his bag of gear for the off chance he’d be at Eddie’s overnight. He hadn’t stayed over since before the lawsuit, but who knows what kind of situation he’s heading into. He called Eddie, but it went straight to voicemail which didn’t do anything for his steadily rising anxiety. </p><p>He parked on the street outside Eddie’s house, pulling out the spare key that thankfully Eddie hadn’t asked him to return. He knocked lightly on the door, not wanting to wake Christopher, and unsurprisingly there was no response. He tried calling Eddie again as a last resort before he came into his house unannounced, but it rang through. </p><p>Unlocking the door with ease, he slipped into the entryway, flipping on the lights he had long since memorized the location of, and turned to take in the scene before him. Except there was no scene before him, the living room was clean and empty, nothing noticeably wrong. </p><p>“Eddie?” He called quietly, scanning the dim room. He padded through the rest of the house checking on Christopher, peacefully asleep, eyes sweeping the kitchen before passing by the bathroom on his way to Eddie’s bedroom. But there he was, sitting facing away from Buck on the floor of the bathroom, his back and side covered in bruises, some yellow and fading, some angry and red. “Eddie?” he whispered in confusion as he froze in the doorway.</p><p>“Buck?!” Eddie’s body tensed as he whipped around, recognizing the figure in the doorway, his arms hugged his body, a feeble attempt to cover the smattering of bruises. </p><p>Buck took in his swollen bloody face, the angry red marks along his shoulders and chest, and the torn flesh of his knuckles. He stood for a long moment in shock before coming back to his senses. This was his best friend, in pain on the floor and he was just standing there? He fell to his knees next to Eddie, reaching out subconsciously to hold him, pausing as he tried to find a patch of clear skin among the damage, and not knowing if the touch would be well-received given the state of their relationship. “Eddie what the hell happened to you?” he whispered. </p><p>“I got in a fight.” </p><p>Buck’s heart stopped, “Someone attacked you? Did you report it?”</p><p>“It… uh it wasn’t the kind of thing you can report…” Eddie’s gaze dropped to the floor.</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Because I asked for it.” </p><p>“You asked to get beat up?”</p><p>“Well not exactly, it was like an MMA match, but... less official.”</p><p>“Like street fighting!?”</p><p>“Yeah, like streetfighting.”</p><p>Anger bubbled in Buck’s chest, and he said the next words slowly, “Okay clarify for me- ‘like streetfighting’” Buck angrily made air quotes, “Or streetfighting? Because there’s a difference.”</p><p>Eddie sighed, picking at the old scabs on his knuckles, “You really want me to say it?”</p><p>“Yes.” Buck hissed, angry tears starting to pool in his eyes. </p><p>“Fine,” Eddie spat, “I. Was. Streetfighting. It started out just watching the fights with Lena as a way to relax, but it wasn’t enough so I got in the ring, and then I just…. kept getting in the ring.”</p><p>“How long has this been going on?”</p><p>“A couple months?”</p><p>“Jesus Eddie…” Buck trailed off, not sure how to respond. But his emotions made the call for him, anger rising in his chest again as he imagined the impact it would have on Christopher if Eddie got seriously injured or...</p><p>“People get hurt Eddie- people die in these rings, there’s a reason they’re illegal! There’re aren’t rules-”</p><p>“There are!” Eddie countered, voice matching Buck's raised volume. </p><p>“Knockout or tapout doesn’t count as rules!” Buck yelled, looking to the door as he quieted his voice, not wanting to wake Christopher. Eddie opened his mouth to respond, but Buck cut him off. </p><p>“You think I don’t notice! I notice it all Eddie! The bruises, the cuts, the winces! And nobody believes your excuses about roughhousing with Chris, we know he’d never do something like that to you. But I thought ‘Sure Eddie’s got it under control like he always does.' Always knows exactly how to handle a situation, always in control. But you aren’t are you?” </p><p>Eddie looked offended, responding angrily, “Yeah well you weren’t there were you!”</p><p>Buck’s breath caught in his chest, before responding slowly, “I didn’t ask you to step into that ring Eds. I wasn’t there and I’m sorry. But I’m here now... so let me help you.” With this Eddie’s body relaxed minutely, head dropping back onto the bathtub. “Please let me help you, Eddie.”</p><p>Eddie sighed, pointing vaguely to one of the bathroom drawers, “There’re some alcohol wipes and bandages in there. I need to reset my nose, I’ve stalled long enough and I don’t want it to start to heal wrong.” Buck moved quickly, throwing various supplies to the ground before kneeling on the floor in front of Eddie. </p><p>“Okay Army Medic where should I start?” Buck questioned, pushing aside his emotions as he scanned Eddie’s face and body, hands hovering worriedly. </p><p>“Could you grab me some ice to reduce the swelling before we realign it, and we can clean some of the cuts in the meantime.” Buck rocketed up, stumbling as he rushed to the kitchen, returning to Eddie within a minute. </p><p>“I’ve never seen you move so fast…” Eddie muttered with a grin, placing the ice on his nose with a wince. Buck fumbled to open an alcohol wipe, gently wiping blood off a cut on Eddie’s temple. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Eddie breathing deeply through his mouth, and Buck intently focusing on the task before him. </p><p>After a while Buck sat back on his heels, eyes scanning Eddie’s face and naked torso. While a bandaid-covered Eddie wasn’t much different than a cut-covered Eddie, the lack of blood put Buck’s mind at ease slightly. The steady blackening of his eyes was a different story. Eddie removed the ice and Buck stared at his misshapen nose. Did he really expect Buck to be able to fix it himself? </p><p>“Ya know Eddie I really think I should take you to the hospital, I don’t want to fuck up your beautiful face by fixing your nose the wrong way,” he joked lightly- definitely not joking. </p><p>Eddie’s eyes took on a desperate look. “Buck, if we go to the hospital they’re going to ask questions, and with something like this, it’s not going to easily be passed off as an accident. They’ll assume I got in a fight or…” he paused for a second meeting Buck’s eyes nervously, “they’ll assume that you did it.”</p><p>“Well I’ll tell them I didn’t, and so will you.”</p><p>“The same way Maddie said Doug didn’t do it?”</p><p>Anger flashed in Buck’s eyes, “don’t you dare bring her into this!”</p><p>Eddie held up his hands in defense, “I’m just saying this is why we can’t go to the hospital. I don’t want people poking around our relationship.”</p><p> Buck gave in, sighing. “Fine, but it’s your fault if your nose ends up healing all out of wack,” Buck sat back against the cabinet, their knees brushing in the cramped space. </p><p>“Well, I heard the chicks dig that rugged look,” Eddie joked smirking, “It’ll be fine I swear I’ll guide you through it. Ready?”</p><p>Buck rolled his eyes, nodding. Eddie took charge, shuffling supplies around on the floor, going into a relaxed version of his usual paramedic mode, despite being the patient. </p><p>“Okay ready Buck? I’m going to support the nasal bone from the inside, and you just have to realign it from the outside. It might bleed, that’s not unusual. Then we’ll tape it to hold it in place. Okay?”</p><p>This was not what Buck had signed up for, but it was his best friend he couldn’t just… not help him. So he washed his hands quickly and knelt on the floor, eye-level with Eddie. Eddie inserted a finger gingerly into his nostril with a wince, before gesturing with his other hand for Buck to stabilize the outside. </p><p>“Now on three you’re going to pull it so it’s straight, and I’ll push it and hopefully it's straight.” </p><p>“And if it's not?”</p><p>“I’ll get used to being rugged. Ready? One… two… three!” </p><p>With a sickening snap, Buck pulled Eddie’s nose back into alignment, and blood came pouring out. Okay maybe not pouring, but to do something and immediately have your best friend start bleeding it’s hard not to feel like that’s your fault. Eddie grabbed a nearby towel, pressing it to his face. “Okay, easy enough!” Eddie looked up at Buck’s startled face, “You good?” </p><p>Buck shook himself out of it, this was normal, he was fine. He didn’t hurt Eddie, that damn fighter that smashed his face in did. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good, I’m okay.” Eddie reached up patting Buck’s arm. </p><p>“You did a good job. Thank you.”</p><p>“Don’t call me if this happens again.”</p><p>“I didn’t call you this time?”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s true. According to Carla you were looking a little more brooding than usual, thought I’d check up.”</p><p>“Well, I’m glad you did. I’ve missed you.”</p><p>Buck smiled sadly, knocking his knee against Eddies, “Missed you too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not sure if I want to add a second chapter of the discussion prompted by this interaction. If I do it'd probably be after whumptober is over.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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